Our Weekly Newsletter
Across Instinctif Partners’ Financial Services team, we are always keeping an eye on the key developments taking place across the sector to evaluate their impact on the many businesses we work with. Here we share our picks of the week’s most interesting news, and our expert views.
London fintech company targets Ireland’s wealth management sector
London-based fintech company Nucoro is seeking expansion opportunities in Ireland stating that the country is one of Europe’s fastest growing wealth management sectors. Ireland’s population of wealthy citizens is rapidly increasing due to the growing rate of intergenerational wealth transfers, creating a demand for digital wealth management services. Nucoro expects Ireland’s wealth management sector to continue growing alongside a predicted 23% increase in new millionaires from 2018 to 2023. (From IFA, 22 January 2020).
Private equity firms seek security in overseas investments
The private equity industry is seeking new investments overseas to avoid expected low returns post-Brexit. Smaller firms are hoping to create economic stability similar to that of larger buyout firms by expanding their geographical scope beyond the UK. Accounting group, BDO, reported a 55% increase in overseas investments by private equity firms in the UK this past year. However, increased competition for investments overseas is predicted to make finding suitable investments difficult in the foreseeable future. (From The Times, 21 January 2020).
Bank of England to consider adopting cryptocurrency
The Bank of England is examining how Britain could adopt a bitcoin-style digital currency. The decision comes as a group of central banks have come together to examine the possible pitfalls of relying on electronic money. Fran Boait, executive director of Positive Money has commented that the decline of cash and threat of private digital currencies like Facebook’s libra, which is set to launch this year, have served as a ‘much-needed wake-up call, but central bankers have a lot of catching up to do’. (From The Guardian, 21 January 2020)
Hedge funds not controlled by ‘white men’ have near doubled returns
A Bloomberg analysis of hedge fund data suggests that hedge funds controlled by minorities and women had close to double the returns than their peers over the past three years. The analysis compared hedge funds within Bloomberg’s database – 35 of which were funds managed by minorities or women, while 908 were peer funds. The analysis found that the former had returns of around 6.6% over the past three years, in comparison to roughly 3.3% for peer funds managed by ‘white men’. (From Bloomberg, 21 January 2020)
Tax notifications added to Cashcalc too
The cashflow planning software provider Cashcalc is set to introduce a function to its modelling tool which notifies advisers when their clients are at risk of breaching their pension allowance. Cashcalc decided to launch the tax feature after receiving feedback from advisers over the course of 2019. Commenting on the new function, their director, Ray Adam, said that he has always felt “that technology should help advisers deliver their advice, not dictate to them what to do or how to do it.” (From FT Adviser, 21 January 2020)